Interviews

Interview with Snowblind on Justice League Heroes

GameSpy talks to Randall Ng, animator at Snowblind, and in this exclusive interview discusses the development of Justice League Heroes, as well as the upcoming PSP version.

GameSpy recently had the opportunity to interview Randall Ng, animator at Snowblind, about his work on Justice League Heroes, and the development of the PSP version of the game. We talk superheroes, super-villains, and all things Batman.

GameSpy: Hey there Randall, it's good to talk to you. Is this the first title you've worked on with Snowblind?

Randall Ng: Yes, Justice League Heroes is my first title working at Snowblind.

GameSpy: So what was it like working on this game?

Ng: It was really a lot of fun, because the way it's designed, you have moment to moment action, as well as the customization elements of the game, so you can see your characters progressing. It's different from other ways that superhero games have been made in the past where you're just gathering items or trying to pick up powerups, and never really seeing your character improve. Now, with these RPG elements, you have more of a free choice to improve your characters as you like. When I talk to other people on the team, they tell me about how they choose to power up their characters, and I'm surprised, learning their different strategies for each character. It's a free-flowing, organic advancement system. We're always trading tactics, and learning new ways to play through the game from each other.

Within this genre, the action-RPG, we've placed the DC Superheroes, characters that we and our audience have grown up with, so the opportunity to work on this game has been phenomenal.

GameSpy: So how hard was it to balance the superpowers with all the characters in the game? Superman "should" be stronger and just better than the human type characters, like Green Arrow, Huntress, and Batman, right?

Ng: Well, we read a lot of comics, we pored over the DC Encyclopedia, we looked at their strengths and weaknesses, and we tried to figure out how a human like Batman could fight an enemy that even Superman has trouble with. Well, in Batman's case, he's an intellectual, and a lot of his powers come from his technique and his gadgets, so to balance out his abilities within the realm of the game, we gave these characters unique abilities. Batman, to continue with our example, has his flash bang power, which is an instant area effect stun, which you can look at and compare to Superman who doesn't have any instant stun.

GameSpy: Yes, in my play experience, I found Superman to lack in the crowd control and versatility departments where a character like Batman shined.

Ng: Right. Superman can just plow through enemies, soaking up damage, so if you need someone to be a 'tank', then take Superman and go for it. But since you're playing with two Justice League members at a time, someone like Batman can step in and immobilize groups with a flash bang, so your big damage dealer isn't taking all that damage. Get a little breathing room, and everyone's cool again.

So as far as balancing, yes, someone like Superman will deal more raw damage, but Batman can throw his beacon to summon a bat swarm, and someone like Green Arrow can deal area effect damage with a barrage of arrows. The superpowers are just different, and the fun is in discovering each character's strengths and weaknesses, and deciding on what powers are more fun to use.